FORT WORTH – Geno Auriemma took his seat on the podium after UConn women’s basketball’s 98-45 detonation of Syracuse Monday without his typical wry wit.
The 41-year veteran, usually brimming with quips and jabs at the players who flank him to his left on stage, was abnormally stoic in his responses.
“We were pretty focused,” Auriemma said. “We were pretty locked in together. That’s the best 20 minutes (the first half) that I’ve seen in a long, long time… that’s about as good as it gets.”
He wasn’t annoyed, arrogant or humorous. Just focused – laser focused.
“I was watching something that reminded me of some of the NCAA Final Four games last year,” Auriemma said with a stern nod. “It looked a lot like that.”
That same feel permeated throughout the roster as well.
As media flooded UConn’s open locker room, players sat in silence on the three couches that lined the right side of the room, intently watching fellow No. 1 seed South Carolina dismantle No. 9 seed Southern California.
Auriemma, arriving in the middle of the 30-minute media availability, propped his computer on three of the many boxes of Frank Pepe’s pizza the team ordered to the locker room and browsed the rest of the scores across the country.
It felt like an under-the-hood look at the operation that’s constructed basketball’s most terrifying buzzsaw.
Any question to a player asking about the team’s historic first-half drubbing of the Orange or unblemished 36-0 record was swallowed up by – mostly – the same cookie-cutter response.
“We’re just thinking about our next game right now.”
Even Azzi Fudd, who momentarily relished in her 34-point Gampel goodbye, honed in on No. 4 North Carolina, the Huskies’ opponent in Friday’s Regional Semifinal in Fort Worth, by the end of the availability.
The Tar Heels, who rolled past No. 13 Western Illinois in the Round of 64 before staving off No. 5 Maryland’s come-from-behind upset bid, won their host regional thanks in part to the herculean efforts of high-low duo Nyla Harris and Lanie Grant.
Harris and Grant, alongside guards Elina Aarnisalo and Indya Nivar, anchor North Carolina’s well-rounded offensive attack that ranks 33rd nationally in points per game (75.6) and 20th in effective field goal percentage (52.2).
Courtney Banghart, who will end her seventh year on Chapel Hill at the conclusion of this season, has assembled one of the deepest rotations in the country laden with both capable shooters and a slew of glass cleaners: six Tar Heels average north of eight points per game while 10 consistently play double-figure minutes.
North Carolina ranks inside the top 30 of both offensive rating (108.4, 26th) and defensive rating (84.5, 18th), seldom turning the ball over by slowing the game down and playing at its preferred pace (204th in adjusted tempo).
It’ll be a test of Connecticut’s heralded depth, which helped buoy the Huskies through an injury-riddled January and February stretch that included games against Notre Dame and Tennessee.
Look no further than bench batteries Kayleigh Heckel, Blanca Quiñonez and Allie Ziebell to shoulder that pressure. Alongside Jana El Alfy down low, UConn’s band of bench pieces ranks near the top of the country in points per game (31.3, 4th nationally) and, when on the floor, maintain the Huskies’ breakneck offensive pace with consistency, enabling Auriemma to deploy two lineups-worth of scorers.
But, regardless, no rotation is complete without one of Fudd or Sarah Strong, both named finalists for the Women’s Naismith Player of the Year Award Wednesday, on the court.
Fudd’s season-long penchant for quick-hitting elbow jumpers and Strong’s all-around prowess as an inside scorer has never been more invaluable than it will be against the Tar Heels: North Carolina surrenders over 38 2-point attempts per game, which ranks outside the top 150 nationally.
Key to Victory: Transition Points and Turnovers
North Carolina plays slow but, if given the opportunity, will attack in transition, where it ranks 67th nationally in points per game. Turning the Tar Heels over, hence creating opportunities for transition baskets, will be paramount for the pressure-oriented Husky defense.
WHO: No. 1 UConn vs. No. 4 North Carolina
WHAT: NCAA Tournament Regional Semifinal
WHERE: Fort Worth, TX
WHEN: Friday, March 26 at 5 p.m.